Saturday Night Live Season 11 Reviews - Episode 16 - Catherine Oxenberg / Paul Simon / Ladysmith Black Mambazo

 

"Hello Seymour, Artie's uncle, with the same last name Garfunkel"

Cold Open: You Can Call Me Al

Instead of a cold open we get Paul Simon singing his hit song 'You Can Call Me Al'.  There's no introduction to this, he just starts playing.  I love this song but why is it here?  Was something cut from dress rehearsal or was this the idea all along?  We get some great bass face from the guy who plays the solo in the middle of the song.  After the applause Paul calmly says, "I'm Paul Simon, we're live from New York on a Saturday Night"

Catherine Oxenberg Monologue

2 Stars

Catherine is interrupted by a Dynasty catfight

Catherine Oxenberg introduces herself and wants to assure everyone that she's different from the character she plays on 'Dynasty'.  Thank you Catherine for explaining who you are because I had no idea.  She is quickly joined by Terry Sweeney in drag as Joan Collins and then Danitra Vance as, I'm guessing another character on Dynasty.  They get into a slap fight.  Does anyone remember Dynasty?  I sure as hell don't.  I guess the show was only famous for catfights because they did this same bit last season.

Geraldo Rivera Opens The Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier

3 Stars

A really quick commercial parody.  Don Pardo narrates that Geraldo is going to open the tomb of the unknown soldier tomorrow night on FOX.  Will there be gold in there?  Or Al Capone?  This was a comment on Geraldo opening up Al Capone's vault on live TV which was a disaster, nothing more to this.

Prison

5 Stars

Two prisoners plot their escape

Lovitz and Paul Simon are chained to the wall of a jail cell.  Lovitz comes up with an escape plan, he will distract the guard and then Simon will knock him unconscious and grab the gun.  When Randy Quaid comes in as the guard, Paul tries to subdue him but to no avail as his hands and feet are chained to the wall.  We get a great bit of physical comedy on Simon's part as he flails around.  They hatch some other schemes.  Simon suggests that Lovitz melt the bars with his heat vision, Lovitz thinks they could get someone to bake them a cake with a pardon from the governor inside, then we get the reveal that they have been in jail for 20 years and are going to be released next week.  I was expecting another Tommy Flanagan visit when this started but was so happy to see an original concept.  Lovitz and Simon were both hilarious here.

The Late Show With Joan Rivers

2 Stars

Joan Rivers has a new late night talk show

So we have Terry Sweeney as Joan Rivers hosting her new talk show.  I remember this being a big deal at the time.  Joan was the permanent guest host for Johnny Carson.  The FOX network was just starting and they offered Joan her own talk show which would compete directly in the ratings with Carson.  She took the gig and Johnny never spoke to her again.  It was a huge disaster and only lasted a few months.  This sketch presents a bit of alternative history, Joan has hijacked Ed McMahon as her co-host and tells Johnny to "eat her dust".  Knowing the outcome of the actual Joan Rivers show makes this sketch make no sense and it doesn't really matter because she brings out her guests, Jane Fonda, Catherine Deneuve and Bridgitte Bardot played by Cusack, Oxenberg and Dunn.  I'm not sure which one is playing which, I'm guessing Cusack is supposed to be Jane Fonda because she's the only one without an accent.  It seems that there are too many things here.  This sketch seems to only exist to showcase Sweeney's impression but then they bring on a guest that has nothing to do with Joan.

The Limits Of The Imagination

5 Stars

Simon and Garfunkel make a deal with the devil

Quaid introduces this as The Floating Head which is completely unnecessary as the sketch holds up on its own.  Simon and Garfunkel are playing bassoons in their basement when they get visited by the devil.  The devil has them sign a contract where they will become rich and famous musicians in exchange for their immortal souls.  We cut to 2010 and a now elderly Paul Simon, played by himself, is getting on an elevator.  The muzak is playing 'Mrs. Robinson' and the devil appears.  It is time to collect, Paul is ready to go to hell but then realizes he is already there as he has to listen to the muzak version of 'The Sounds Of Silence' for eternity.

Dirk Landers

4 Stars

Season premiere and finale of a spy show

Robert Downey is running in front of a green screen doing karate chops and poses as we introduce the show 'Dirk Landers' a top CIA agent who knows too much and is now on the run from the law.  We cut to him sitting in his apartment, a woman enters and asks him if he is Dirk Landers, he says yes and she shoots him dead.  We then cut to Anthony Michael Hall in a tuxedo and tease next week's show, 'Bosco Tanner'.  This was just the right amount of stupid.

Weekend Update With Dennis Miller

"Sometimes life feels like a cocktail party and I don't know where to stand"

We get the 3rd Nell Carter is fat joke of the season.  This time Miller says that we are still looking for more volunteers to pull of 'Hands Across Nell Carter'.  Miller gives us a look inside a Russian nuclear reactor, which turns out to be the game 'Mouse Trap'.  The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson won the Peabody Award while Ed McMahon won the Sherman Award.  He ends the segment by reading a passage from 'Oedipus' in honor of Mother's Day.
A. Whitney Brown is here to talk about the Chernobyl disaster and does a whole piece equating nuclear meltdown with farting.

Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo

"Homeless"

This was 5 minutes of African chanting.  It seems important but this really killed the momentum of the show

Beverly Hills

3 Stars

Tommy tries to woo a lady poolside

Tommy Flanagan sits next to a lady.  You know what the beats of this sketch are going to be by now.  He lies a lot.  He says that he's the president of 20th Century Fox.  He is remaking 'Heaven's Gate' with a bigger budget.  The woman he is with is also a liar just trying to get a part in one of his projects.  This is definitely the weakest of the Tommy Flanagan sketches we've gotten this season, probably because this is the 10th time we've seen him in 16 episodes.

Brim Decaffeinated

3 Stars

Decaffeinated coffee makes you tired

Randy Quaid comes into a diner looking tired, Nora Dunn offers him a cup of the new Brim Decaffeinated.  He drinks it and says it's not too bad.  That's the joke, they're sleepy while drinking coffee.  It was short.

Penn And Teller

3 Stars

Penn reads a poem while Teller tries to escape death

Penn reads 'Casey At The Bat' under the pretenses that when he is done he will stand up releasing a counterweight that will send Teller falling to a floor filled with spikes.  Teller is also in a straight jacket so needs to escape quickly.  Penn starts to speed up to a comical degree while Teller frantically tries to free himself.  Teller does so just in time.

A Mother's Day Message

1 Star

Margaret Caroline reads a Mother's Day message

Cusack is Margaret Caroline, a mother who on this special day wants to impart moral values to her children.  As she talks she starts to mouth words randomly as if she's telling a secret.  I have no idea what this was.

Rerun of Trojans

Paul Simon closes out the show with Graceland

FINAL ANALYSIS

 
"He ducked back down the alley with some roly-poly little bat-faced girl"

Average

3.1 Stars

MVP

Jon Lovitz
Prison, The Limits Of The Imagination, Beverly Hills

Best Sketch

Prison

Worst Sketch

A Mother's Day Message

How I Would Have Lorne Michaels-ed It

A solid first half and a lackluster finish.  The only sketch placements I had issue with were the musical cold open, my solution would be to shorten the Joan Rivers sketch and put it in that spot, and Brim Decaffeinated.  It was too late in the show for a commercial parody, should have saved that for after next week's monologue.

Host Analysis

Who is Catherine Oxenberg?  How did this episode happen?  Did they get to Wednesday and go, oh no, this girl doesn't have much stage presence at all, does anybody have Paul Simon's number?

Final Thoughts

A few really solid sketches were in this episode but overall it was a fairly weak effort.  I blame it all on the cold open and then 2 other Paul Simon musical acts.  It just didn't seem like an SNL episode.  Then you have the host, Catherine Oxenberg, taking a backseat to the musical guest.

Up Next

You know what I love about SNL, they get seasoned comedians to host.  People like Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Steve Martin, Buck Henry, Catherine Oxenberg and Jimmy Breslin.  Pulitzer Prize winner Jimmy Breslin hosts next week with special guest Marvelous Marvin Hagler.